South Central Florida

Arcadia, Okeechobee, Sebring

"The Big O" — Lake Okeechobee — is a draw for recreational boaters and a vital piece of the navigable Okeechobee Waterway linking Florida's east and west coasts. [Photo: VISIT FLORIDA]

Geography is destiny in South Central Florida, where cattle lands, citrus groves, sugarcane fields, phosphate deposits, abundant water and subtropical foliage dominate the landscape. While many residents want to preserve the region's natural, relaxed environment, they are open to new opportunities, actively courting companies that seek affordable land and room to grow.

The region's centralized location offers extraordinary accessibility: Interstate highways link the region to multiple metropolitan areas, airports and seaports. Additionally, the six-county region is bisected by the Okeechobee Waterway, a system of navigable rivers and canals linking Florida's east and west coasts through Lake Okeechobee.

A $128-million project expanding the Peace River water plant to a 6-billion gallon storage capacity ensures a steady water supply.

Who Lives Here

New faces: 28% of South Central's 253,000-plus residents are Hispanic; Hendry County has the region's largest Hispanic population — 49%.

Changing perspectives: The city of Okeechobee's slogan, "We have old values and new visions," could easily symbolize this entire region, which has experienced significant demographic and economic change in recent years due to creeping urbanization. Ranchers, farmers, miners, truckers, teachers and service workers continue to dominate the labor force.

Economic Life

Green Energy

» FPL Group and Florida Power & Light Company operate the nation's largest photovoltaic solar facility in Arcadia using 90,000 solar panels to generate 42,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year.

» Construction is under way at LS9's advanced bio-diesel demonstration facility in Okeechobee to enable the production of low-cost, low-carbon "UltraClean Diesel" fuel.

» Groundbreaking for BP America's ethanol plant — the first cellulosic commercial grade operation of its kind in the U.S. — is scheduled for early 2012 in Highlands County.

» Southeast Renewable Fuels expects to break ground at a Hendry County site in late 2011 on a $100-million plant to convert sweet sorghum into ethanol.

Logistics

» Three interstate highways, Florida's Turnpike, four U.S. highways and 12 state roads traverse this region or pass near it, providing access to many major urban areas — Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Naples — and links to important markets throughout the Southeast.

» Efforts are under way to build an "inland port" or integrated logistics center on 4,000 acres in Moore Haven to serve as a warehousing, distribution and manufacturing hub for products and raw materials brought by truck, ship and
rail from Florida and East Coast sites.

Agriculture

» Sugarcane and citrus production are the economic powerhouses. Many farmers are expanding their operations to include "energy
grasses" and other crops for the significant energy projects under way in the region and to create a sustainable in-state alternative fuel supply.

Right Place, Right Skills

For Cross Country Automotive Services, the nation's
largest provider of roadside assistance to motorists, the decision to site a customer call center in Sebring came down to just two reasons. One was the high quality of business assistance they got — and still enjoy — from
the Highlands County Economic Development Council.
The other was population growth (13% between 2000 and 2010), which would assure an ample supply of workers with "the right skill sets — good speaking abilities, courtesy and empathy — that are needed to provide roadside assistance to distressed motorists who call in from across the U.S.," says Sandra Savage, Cross Country's vice
president of human resources.

Next page: South Central Florida's quality of life
and notable employers